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OT leaders ask California board to monitor AB 2497 over scope and billing language
Summary
Sammy Rafiti, president of the Occupational Therapy Association of California, asked the California Board of Occupational Therapy to monitor AB 2497, the Physical Therapy Modernization Act, raising concerns that undefined language could let physical therapists bill for activities OTs consider core scope (e.g., 'self‑care') and that references to 'other health conditions' could encompass mental‑health work.
Sammy Rafiti, president of the Occupational Therapy Association of California, told the board during public comment that AB 2497 contains drafting choices that could expand physical therapists’ billable interventions in ways that concern occupational therapists.
"Self‑care has become its own um intervention by way of being in between two semicolons," Rafiti said, reading a provision from the bill and arguing that the punctuation treats self‑care as a separable intervention that could be billed separately. Rafiti also flagged a catchall phrase — "other health conditions" — and a clause about stress‑management, saying the language is broad enough that it "could mean mental health" and risk blurring roles between disciplines.
Rafiti told the board that OTAC has consulted with AOTA and will propose alternative language to the California Physical Therapy Association. "We have some language that we are going to recommend...and we'll be doing that next week," she said, urging the board to monitor the bill even though it was not on the board's agenda for the day.
Executive Officer Austin Porter responded that the board is aware and monitoring the bill; he confirmed the subject was not agendized for official board action that day. Rafiti and other association representatives said they would continue to coordinate edits with allied organizations and asked the board’s licensing staff to flag the bill for the board’s review.
The board took no formal action on AB 2497 at the meeting but accepted the public comment for the record. The transcript shows OT leaders intend to submit proposed language to the physical‑therapy association and urged the board's monitoring and review.
